PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has disposed of petitions of multiple families against the blocking of their computerised national identity cards (CNICs), asking them to reach out to the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for issuance of the relevant clearance certificates under the citizenship law.

A bench consisting of Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal declared that Nadra should verify claims of the petitioners without being prejudiced by the fact that they earlier made an admission before the verification board regarding relinquishment of their CNICs.

“If they are in fact found to be Pakistan citizens, then a clearance certificate shall be issued in accordance with Section 19 of the Citizenship Act, 1951, by the Director General [of] Nadra but in accordance with law,” it declared.

The bench added that such verification should be concluded within 90 days of the filing of applications.

PHC disposes of pleas against blocking of CNICs

It declared that in other cases, a written order shall be issued for cancellation of the surrendered CNICs.

The bench issued the orders in a 13-page detailed judgement, while disposing of five almost identical petitions filed by different families whose CNICs were blocked by Nadra for admitting before the regional verification board that they wrongly obtained their earlier CNICs and agreed to surrender them.

One of the petitioners, Daulat Khan Khilji, claiming to be a permanent resident of Quetta but now living in Peshawar, had sought restoration of his CNIC as well as that of his spouse and five children.

He claimed that his children from his earlier marriage were disobedient, so he, inorder to teach them a lesson, had surrendered his Pakistani nationality.

The petitioner, however, said that because of his act, his children from the current wife, who were enrolled in different educational institutions, faced problems.

The petitioners in other four petitions claimed that their CNICs were abruptly blocked or cancelled by Nadra without issuing any notice or providing any lawful justification.

Some petitioners insisted that they appeared before the district level committee for verification and produced evidence regarding their Pakistani citizenship, but still their CNICs had not been restored.

All petitioners claimed that they were Pakistani citizens by descent and held properties in the country.

In the judgement authored by Justice Wiqar Ahmad, the bench discussed different provisions of the Nadra Ordinance, 2000, Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, and verdicts of the superior courts on the subject.

It pointed out that the respondents, including Nadra, maintained that under a “survey related to the national verification programme and amnesty scheme” launched by the federal government, family heads of the petitioners, in most cases, had surrendered CNICs.

The bench observed that in none of the cases, the respondents could produce neither any order of the competent authority issued under Section 18 of the Nadra Ordinance for cancelling CNICs issued to the petitioners nor a certificate (CNIC surrender certificate) issued under Section 17 of the Ordinance.

“It has not even been mentioned in the comments that such an order has ever been passed by the competent authority i.e. Director General, Nadra as authorised officer under Section 18 of the Ordinance, or the certificate had been issued under sub-section 3 of Section 17 of the Ordinance,” it ruled.

The bench ruled that admission before the verification board couldn’t be equated with the relinquishment of the nationality.

It declared that it was apparent that neither a request had been lodged with any authority of the federal government by any of the petitioners under Section 14-A or Section 16 of the Citizenship Act nor had any of the competent authority of the federal government passed any order by utilising the powers vested in such authority.

Referring to the admission made before the boards of Nadra, the bench pointed out that the matter had remained inchoate before the Authority as final order on the basis of such admission had not been issued by the competent authority.

“Their (petitioners) claim that they have been Pakistan citizens may or may not be correct but the same requires a determination and clarity in the given situation. Section 19 of the Act provides that where a doubt regarding citizenship of a person exists, whether on a question of law or facts he may make an application to the Federal Government for granting him a certificate that on the date of certificate he has been a citizen of Pakistan,” it noted.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2026